"GOP loss could threaten leadership"

[Uriel999]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10140.html

Gee, I wonder who will take over the party? :D

[torchbearer]

Ron Paul will lead the way to our next Reagan.

[klamath]

You beat me too it:D. Yep this is what I have trying to get across. A major loss by the republicans will get John McCain and all the current leaders spit upon by the rank an file.
There will be a major house cleaning. And that is where our wing steps in. Basically the american perple are saying since both parties are big spenders why not spend more at home instead of in Iraq and they see that in socialist Obama. I sure they will be disapointed though.
They even mentioned RP in this article.

[Kraig]

This is why no Ron Paul supporters should vote for McCain, vote 3rd party, vote democrat even, but don't vote for McCain. The GOP has betrayed it's core belief system and they need to pay the price for it, when they do it will pave the way for our message. My fear is that many of the republicans who voted for Paul will vote for McCain by some "lesser of two evils" argument and we will be stuck in the same boat, we need to think about the next election rather than try to salvage this one (this is all if Paul doesn't get the nomination of course). If the McCain loses by a landslide the GOP leadership will lose all credibility.

[WilliamC]

Glad you posted this link.

I've been absent from the boards for a while, ever since our primary, but thought to post this story today.

What I find revealing is that even with the GOP leadership essentially conceeding defeat in November there is still absolutely no mention of Ron Paul or of a return to true Conservative principles that are based on a Constitutionally limited government.

Instead the GOP seems to just want a new marketing strategy to help keep themselves in power.

If the GOP does end up in shambles after November I hope that Ron Paul and like minded Repbulicans are able to reform it.



GOP leaders warn of election disaster
By JOHN BRESNAHAN | 5/6/08 8:05 PM EST

Cole told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to “save them” in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves.

Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money.

The double shot of bad news had one veteran Republican House member worrying aloud that the party’s electoral woes — brought into sharp focus by Woody Jenkins’ loss to Don Cazayoux in Louisiana on Saturday — have the House Republican Conference splitting apart in “everybody for himself” mode.

“There is an attitude that, ‘I better watch out for myself, because nobody else is going to do it,’” the member said. “There are all these different factions out there, everyone is sniping at each other, and we have no real plan. We have a lot of people fighting to be the captain of the lifeboat instead of everybody pulling together.”

In a piece published in Human Events, the Republicans’ onetime captain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warned his old colleagues that they face “real disaster” on Election Day unless they move immediately to “chart a bold course of real reform” for the country.

And in a closed-door session at the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to “save them” in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves.

Although a top House Republican brushed aside Gingrich’s broadside as “hype from a has-been who desperately wants to be a player but can’t anymore,” the harsh words from Cole were harder to ignore.

“It was a pretty stern line that he took with us,” said one House Republican.

Cole, on the defensive in the wake of special election losses in Louisiana and Illinois, pointed his finger Tuesday at his Republican colleagues, telling them that they had been too stingy in helping fund party efforts. He also complained that the Republicans ran weak candidates in both Louisiana and Illinois — a charge Cole made despite the fact that, as NRCC chairman, he could have played a major role in choosing the party’s candidates if he hadn’t made the decision to stay out of GOP primaries.

In his meeting with members, Cole distributed a document showing that even former Republican political guru Karl Rove had badmouthed Jenkins, according to GOP sources. It’s not clear whether Cole meant it as a criticism of Rove or of Jenkins.

But Cole’s overall message was clear, said members who sat through the meeting: “If you’re not out doing your own work, and you’re waiting for the NRCC to come in at the last minute and save you, it ain’t gonna happen.” That’s how one lawmaker characterized Cole’s talk, adding that the NRCC is “not going to have the resources” to help all members “and Democrats will have a lot more money.”

Republicans are suffering a crisis of confidence after the two special election losses. There’s talk that House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and other GOP leaders could be ousted if the party suffers double-digit losses in November.

Gingrich’s broadside did little to calm the GOP jitters.

While Gingrich softened his blow by circulating it privately to the GOP leadership on Monday — a day before it was publicly released — his language was still strong, and his message was seen as a broad attack on Boehner, Cole and the rest of the Republican leadership.

“The Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District last Saturday should be a sharp wake-up call for Republicans,” Gingrich wrote. “Either congressional Republicans are going to chart a bold course of real change or they are going to suffer decisive losses this November.”

Gingrich said Republicans cannot rely on the popularity of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, to carry them to victory in November. And he warned that attacks on Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, could backfire.

“The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama, anti-Rev. Wright or, if Sen. Clinton wins, anti-Clinton campaign, they are simply going to fail,” Gingrich said. “This model has already been tested with disastrous results.”

The NRCC ran TV ads tying Cazayoux to national Democratic figures in the Louisiana special election, only to see Democrats grab control of a House seat that had been in the GOP column for more than three decades.

Gingrich, who was pushed out as speaker following GOP losses in the 1998 midterm elections, advocated “an emergency, members-only” meeting of House Republicans in order to hash out a new reform agenda before Memorial Day. He also called for a “complete overhaul” of the NRCC.

Gingrich said that if the GOP leadership would not go along with his plan, “then the minority who are activists should establish a parallel organization dedicated to real change.” He offered nine policy proposals designed to achieve that goal, including repealing federal gas taxes, reforming the Census Bureau and declaring English as the official language of the United States.

Boehner tried to put the best face on Gingrich’s message. His spokesman, Michael Steel, said that Boehner “certainly agrees — and has said repeatedly — that Republicans can only succeed this year by being agents of change and reform.” Steel said Republicans have to convince voters that they can “fix” Washington and that, in the coming weeks, they will be “laying out Republican policies that embody the sort of changes we need.”

But there is no question that Gingrich has identified a nervous undercurrent among House Republicans that could morph into full-fledged panic if the GOP loses a special election next Tuesday in Mississippi. Republican Greg Davis is squaring off against Democrat Travis Childers for the House seat held by former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to the Senate to replace retired Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

With internal polls from both parties showing the race as a tossup, the GOP is putting on a full-court press. The White House has dispatched Vice President Cheney to Mississippi to campaign on Davis’ behalf. And Wicker, Lott, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will hold events for Davis this weekend and early next week, according to GOP sources.

House Republicans will hold a rally with President Bush on Wednesday morning, with all 199 members invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to show solidarity with the president, according to GOP sources.

[WilliamC]

They even mentioned RP in this article.

I didn't see it. Where?

To me it looks as if the Republican leaders would rather let the party die than give any exposure to Ron Paul or to the idea that our government should be restrained by the Constitution.

[Truth Warrior]

What no shepherds? :eek:

[slacker921]

hey.. you know it's bad when Newt says that local candidates need to distance themselves from McCain and Bush to win. But yeah, they're beginning to see that the voters aren't going to support them in November. We tried to warn the GOP.. we tried to give them an option. Oh well.

[acptulsa]

When they lose it all, they'll reshuffle their people and try to step in and take over for themselves. We'd better stay strong, stay active and stay together or the coming change will be right over to more of the same.

[klamath]

I didn't see it. Where?

To me it looks as if the Republican leaders would rather let the party die than give any exposure to Ron Paul or to the idea that our government should be restrained by the Constitution.

"Cantor’s job also gives him unrivaled access to colleagues from all parts of the party. He has even asked the notoriously independent Texas Rep. Ron Paul to back, or oppose, bills when Republicans have needed every vote they can get. This gives Cantor an established history with other members — as well as their cell phone numbers in case he mounts a race."

[slacker921]

comment away..

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/GOP_loss_could_threaten_leadership

[klamath]

This is why no Ron Paul supporters should vote for McCain, vote 3rd party, vote democrat even, but don't vote for McCain. The GOP has betrayed it's core belief system and they need to pay the price for it, when they do it will pave the way for our message. My fear is that many of the republicans who voted for Paul will vote for McCain by some "lesser of two evils" argument and we will be stuck in the same boat, we need to think about the next election rather than try to salvage this one (this is all if Paul doesn't get the nomination of course). If the McCain loses by a landslide the GOP leadership will lose all credibility.

You don't want the democrats to win in a landslide. That will give them a huge mandate for change and and they will do a great amount of damage before the people get wise. A loss but not a huge loss will be good for the Republicans so we can start with a clean slate.

[mczerone]

Gingrich, who was pushed out as speaker following GOP losses in the 1998 midterm elections, advocated “an emergency, members-only” meeting of House Republicans in order to hash out a new reform agenda before Memorial Day. He also called for a “complete overhaul” of the NRCC.

Gingrich said that if the GOP leadership would not go along with his plan, “then the minority who are activists should establish a parallel organization dedicated to real change.” He offered nine policy proposals designed to achieve that goal, including repealing federal gas taxes, reforming the Census Bureau and declaring English as the official language of the United States.

House Republicans will hold a rally with President Bush on Wednesday morning, with all 199 members invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to show solidarity with the president, according to GOP sources.

1) We have an inside man at these meetings, however marginalized his peers have tried to make him.

2) Newt (almost) addressed the Ron Paul grassroots, saying that if the GOP still decides to play mean with us, we should leave.

Let's see if this meeting happens. Let's see what the 'new Republican' looks like, then if it is acceptable to us, we can join them. Otherwise we should start running away from the inevitable demolition of the party.

3) How does making English the Official language increase our liberty? It seems that this is nothing but another expansion of government feeding off of fear and hate. And who decides which English we speak, Newt? Would a southern dialect be legal or illegal? What about an Australian dialect, as it is still "English"?

[weslinder]

You don't want the democrats to win in a landslide. That will give them a huge mandate for change and and they will do a great amount of damage before the people get wise. A loss but not a huge loss will be good for the Republicans so we can start with a clean slate.

Exactly. Disgust with Republicans and especially McCain is justified. Even so, Democrats are the ones who tell us that they promote the erosion of liberty, erosion of property rights, and interventionism (as demanded by the United Nations). Voting for Democrats is an endorsement of the policies that we are fighting against.

[WilliamC]

"Cantor’s job also gives him unrivaled access to colleagues from all parts of the party. He has even asked the notoriously independent Texas Rep. Ron Paul to back, or oppose, bills when Republicans have needed every vote they can get. This gives Cantor an established history with other members — as well as their cell phone numbers in case he mounts a race."

Thank you. The version of the article I posted did not include this.

Edit: my mistake. different article from same source about similar topic.

[klamath]

What I really would like is just the right size of loss for the republicans to get a party shakeup but not large enough to give the democrats free rein to impliment any of their policies. I don't want a global carbon tax that we will never get rid of, nationalized health care we will never get rid of, environmental agencies that can totally control everything you do on your private property, etc etc. I want gridlock until we can get enough power to get some real changes for liberty.

[Truth Warrior]

What I really would like is just the right size of loss for the republicans to get a party shakeup but not large enough to give the democrats free rein to impliment any of their policies. I don't want a global carbon tax that we will never get rid of, nationalized health care we will never get rid of, environmental agencies that can totally control everything you do on your private property, etc etc. I want gridlock until we can get enough power to get some real changes for liberty.
"If wishes were wings, then beggars would fly."

[klamath]

"If wishes were wings, then beggars would fly."

Yeaw but can't I dream:D

[jmdrake]

You don't want the democrats to win in a landslide. That will give them a huge mandate for change and and they will do a great amount of damage before the people get wise. A loss but not a huge loss will be good for the Republicans so we can start with a clean slate.

It really matters not whether McCain loses by a few votes or by a landslide. What's far more important is that decent people get elected to congress and the senate. Ron Paul endorsed candidates are key. And if you don't have that option find the best pro liberty candidate you can and vote for him or her.

Regards,

John M. Drake

[Truth Warrior]

Yeaw but can't I dream:D
You betcha! :D

[Truth Warrior]

It really matters not whether McCain loses by a few votes or by a landslide. What's far more important is that decent people get elected to congress and the senate. Ron Paul endorsed candidates are key. And if you don't have that option find the best pro liberty candidate you can and vote for him or her.

Regards,

John M. Drake
Yep, no more sociopaths, please. The Congress already has plenty. :rolleyes: